Matt Gurney: Plastic guns are not cause for alarm

Plastic guns are not cause for alarm

The emergence of printed guns would seem to undermine the primary purpose of most gun control efforts: keeping guns out of the hands of certain people. Unsupervised children, felons, the mentally ill, those under court orders or otherwise prohibited from possessing a firearm — even most gun owners would agree these people should not have access to a firearm, printed or otherwise.

But at this time, it seems unlikely that such a niche technology as 3D printers will actually do much to get guns into the hands of these people, or anyone else. Why go plastic when you can stick with steel?

3D printers gradually build solid objects by spraying incredibly thin layers of hot plastic into patterned shapes, as recorded in computer files. With each layer of plastic, the object takes form. Gun enthusiasts were quick to realize that 3D printers could build components of firearms. But actually building a complete firearm posed a greater challenge. A firearm is, after all, a device that contains and channels explosions: The gunpowder blows up, and the explosion has nowhere to go but out the end of the barrel (pushing a bullet as it does so). Good quality steel has been the core of most guns mechanical guts for centuries because it can stand up to that pressure, repeatedly.

Yes, a printed gun has been fired. Once. And that’s a milestone. But can plastic guns realistically stand up to the punishment that a steel gun absorbs without breaking down? We don’t know yet. And it’s not like, as has been suggested, printed guns would beat metal detectors. Bullets are made of metal. The gun is only dangerous if it’s loaded.

Still, even the possibility has left many people alarmed. If 3D printers can simply run off copies of firearms, anyone could equip an army, and black markets will swell with cheap guns that anyone can afford. Anyone unable to buy an old-fashioned gun because of a criminal record, for example, can simply head into the city and find a guy selling plastic .22-calibre pistols.

An influx of plastic guns might drive down the street price of a gun and that’s a real concern. But the sad truth is, the bad guys get guns, anyway

Sure. And that’s how people have been getting around firearms bans forever: Just buy one illegally. Until and unless printed guns are shown to be as reliable as a steel firearm, they won’t attract much interest. This is especially true among young thugs, who value a gun as a status symbol as much as a weapon. Will you want the Glock .40 or … this plastic thing that might melt after the first shot? Easy answer.

An influx of plastic guns might drive down the street price of a gun (plastic or otherwise) and that’s a real concern. But the sad truth is, the bad guys get guns, anyway. The smugglers aren’t selling them for more than the black market can bear. The only people who’ll end up with plastic guns are people who weren’t willing to scrape together a few hundred bucks to buy a steel one.

Undoubtedly, as the printed guns proliferate, some will be put to ill use. But will a whole group of crimes that wouldn’t have been committed without printed guns suddenly occur because of the technology? It’s hard to believe that 3D printers will make guns so much cheaper, and so much more available, that it will put weapons into the hands of dangerous people who simply couldn’t find a traditional gun elsewhere. 3D printers themselves are a new and expensive technology. It might be easier to control them than the guns.

3D printers are a fascinating, emerging technology, and printed guns a historic first. For the first time in history, building an advanced weapon is easy for anyone to do. Most people today couldn’t build a sword or axe from scratch, let alone a musket or modern firearm. 3D printers have changed that. We can each be our own gunsmith.

But it’s too soon to believe that this will make our society any less safe. Reliable, old-fashioned steel guns are readily available through illegal channels to those set on obtaining them. Printed firearms may enthuse gun hobbyists and technologists, but until there’s a 3D printer in every home capable of cranking out a firearm that’s just as dangerous as your average 50-year-old .38 revolver, there’s no cause for alarm.